560 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



tion to manures for mangolds, and, mixed in equal propor- 

 tions with nitrate of soda, as a top-dressing for spring -wheat 

 or barley. It is also useful on light land in dry seasons." 



Application of Farm-yard Manure. 



"In accordance with the teachings of modern chemistry, 

 the most advanced farmers in England apply to the land 

 farm-yard manure, fresh from the stables or cattle-sheds, if 

 possible, iu autumn or winter. The manure then has ample 

 time to become rotten, and by degrees the nitrogenous con- 

 stituents of the manure are transformed into nitrates, of 

 which there will be a ready supply in spring when vegeta- 

 tion makes a fresh start." 



This method, also in use among farmers on the Continent, 

 would, perhaps, apply better to their warm, mild climate than 

 to the longer and colder winters of our Northern States. 



FARM EXPERIMENTS WITH FERTILIZERS. 



Following the suggestions of the lead ins: agricultural 

 chemists in Europe and in this country, and the example set 

 the year before by the Connecticut Experiment Station, the 

 American Agriculturist proposed to its readers last season a 

 series of experiments, and arranged to provide them with 

 samples of fertilizers, for the purpose, of tested quality, at 

 prices just covering the cost. The Vermont Agricultural 

 College distributed a number of the sets amono; the farmers 

 of that state; the Maine Agricultural College made several 

 series of experiments with them ; representatives of agricult- 

 ural societies and prominent farmers in various parts of the 

 country joined in the enterprise ; and the parties who put up 

 the fertilizers introduced them among their customers ; so 

 that the experiments were made from Canada to Florida, 

 and from Maine to Wisconsin. With each lot were sent ex- 

 planations and directions, and blanks for reports, with places 

 for a number of pages of details as to soil, tillage, manuring, 

 weather, produce, etc., which any who might choose were 

 requested to fill and return. Some sixty of these reports 

 were sent in. They show a very high degree of care and 

 thoroughness in the experimental work ; form a valuable con- 

 tribution to our knowledge of the ways in which plants get 



